Plymouth Naval War Memorial by grayfo
After the First World War (1914-18), the Imperial War Graves Commission, was asked to find a way of commemorating the men who had died in the War but who had no known graves. For the Royal Navy, whose deaths occurred at sea, this posed a problem. Constructing a similar memorial in each of the three ports from which the Royal Navy?s ships were manned -- Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth, solved it. The design would be of a unique naval form and each would serve as a marker for shipping.The memorial tower is of Portland stone supported by four corner buttresses each with a lion. At the base are brass plaques upon, which are the names of over 7,000 sailors who lost their lives in the First World War.
There is also an inscription in bronze that reads: ~ In honour of the Navy and to the abiding memory of those ranks and ratings of this Port who laid down their lives in the defence of the Empire and have no other grave than the sea.~
